Helping shut down employees?

I know how competitive shopping can be in certain areas and we all had to pay our dues to build our businesses, but is there any advice or help we can provide for these people not getting paid? One thing that helps me when shopping is to use Microsoft office 365 on-line for writing narratives. It does not cost anything and usually it will pick up most grammar errors. If people said where the lived there are some companies that have jobs sitting on the boards. I know those are some of our bonuses, but don't companies have problems with shopper rotations like for car sales shops? If no one appreciates my post, I am sorry, but it is really hard to hear people having to choose between medication or groceries. I know there is another thread about this, but I was hoping this would not be about the politics of what is going one.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2019 09:20PM by breestjon.

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I have a better idea:
Whatever your political persuasion, write your senators and representatives. The only thing that will help all the folks who are in a bad spot because of the shutdown is to get the government back open again. Our leadership should be pressured.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

@MFJohnston wrote:

I have a better idea:
Whatever your political persuasion, write your senators and representatives. The only thing that will help all the folks who are in a bad spot because of the shutdown is to get the government back open again. Our leadership should be pressured.

I have called them, these people provide services for us. If you do not want to help then maybe do not comment. I was hoping this thread would not get over politicized.

I am not following what you are talking about?

The U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and U.S. President are in a major disagreement about whether or not we should allocate money for a wall/fence/divider/whatever between the United States and Mexico. As a result of this disagreement, we have not been able to pass a budget and, as of about a month ago, part of our federal government has shut down. About 800,000 federal employees are either furloughed and not getting paid or working without pay. They have already missed one paycheck and are about to miss another. As most folks live paycheck-to-paycheck, the financial implications on many households are devastating. Of course, many more folks than that are affected as these folks have families, there are contract workers who are not included in the 800,000 and many small businesses rely on business from these employees.

Hop onto any online U.S. news source and you'll surely have plenty of reading material about it.

@Whatfun14LF wrote:

I am not following what you are talking about?

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

Donate to food banks and diaper banks !!! Our local food banks all need extra supplies. My local Giant Food store has a barrel where we can drop off non-perishable foods and things like packs of diaper and baby wipes. The donations go nightly to local banks for distribution the next day.
Many of the IC workers who have been laid off make minimum wage and will NOT get any back pay. that's right; ICs have never been included in furlough back pay provisions because, technically, they are not employees of the government. They are employed by the contractors that, for instance, prepare and serve cafeteria food in office buildings, clean and maintain government buildings, etc. Also, TSA workers, although federal employees, have the very lowest wages of government employees. Many are not reporting to work because they cannot afford fuel or transit fares to the airport anymore, of have to decide between that and food for the family. Make no mistake; real people are in real trouble. The are already out about 10% of their annual income. And for those who are employees, they are now getting bills for their share of health benefits!!! While not being paid.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

@Whatfun14LF wrote:

I am not following what you are talking about?

There is another thread welcoming the Coast Guard, but many people have posted about the politics of the shut down. I guess, I meant if someone came to the forum and instead of having to go through all the threads to find useful information, maybe we can leave tips and things like that. It has nothing to do with giving them money or our jobs. We do it anyhow for other shoppers. I was putting the idea out there because now the news is reporting it could last another month.

I have been following it here in Canada, hence my smiley face, joking. CNN is on all of the time here and that is all they talk about, nothing else. I was just surprised to see this topic on a mystery shop forum. Got to love politics, they even make their way here.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2019 09:47PM by Whatfun14LF.

Forget the politics here; help the hungry. Very simple.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

@walesmaven wrote:

Forget the politics here; help the hungry. Very simple.

Thank you! I cannot really donate a lot of funds. I have not seen Food Lions in Southern Virginia taking food donations. I have time to help people, but there are no government workers in my area.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2019 09:54PM by breestjon.

@breestjon
I look at it like this: I'll give my advice and suggestion to any shopper who asks - they don't need to be a federal employee. I figure that most folks who get into this are in need of extra income for whatever reason and I know that some are hurting.

I do agree with @walesmaven's post suggesting that we donate to the many charities that are helping them out. At the same time, we cannot expect them to want to live off charitable donations for a prolonged period. What they really need is to get the government back open. I do not see it as "political" to suggest that we write our elected officials other than to underscore that we all have the right and responsibility to communicate with our leadership, whatever our politics. I have no intentions of trying to argue the politics of the situation in this thread.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2019 09:57PM by MFJohnston.

@MFJohnston wrote:

@breestjon
I look at it like this: I'll give my advice and suggestion to any shopper who asks - they don't need to be a federal employee. I figure that most folks who get into this are in need of extra income for whatever reason and I know that some are hurting.

I do agree with @walesmaven's post suggesting that we donate to the many charities that are helping them out. At the same time, we cannot expect them to want to live off charitable donations for a prolonged period. What they really need is to get the government back open. I do not see this as "political" to suggest that we write our elected officials other than underscoring that we all have the right and responsibility to communicate with our leadership, whatever our politics. I have no intentions of trying to argue the politics of the situation in this thread.

I was just suggesting any tips if people come here and want to help or need help with a shop like we do already. Trying to make money from mystery shopping takes a lot of time if you are new. When I first started I spent a lot of my time signing up with companies and searching job boards. Furloughed workers might not have that time and advising them would not hurt.

I see there are humane societies, SPCAs, and other places helping people with pet food also.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2019 11:14PM by breestjon.

I have been taking more buyback audits, and donating the products to my local food bank. I have also been taking the beans and canned goods sent by my postal shop partners.

Unless and until Ms. Nancy Pelosi can deign to stand down and release funding for the wall which is needed in addition to the other suggested and approved security measures, this shutdown will continue indefinitely. Fortunately, forum members are doing what they can to help others.

I have not seen a bad idea in this thread.

btw, I am neither territorial nor competitive. I may look like a mutt, but I do not consume other dogs. haha. I welcome anyone to shop here. Mind you, it is not so easy here given weather, distances, and other conditions. But I will never begrudge anyone else an opportunity to find out if any of the shops in my local area and larger region are something that they would like to do as a one-off or ongoing work situation. I give what I can here and there. I believe that many people can figure out how to make things work, even though the solutions might not be as palatable or enjoyable as being flush. I don't know if some people believe in their ability as strongly as I do.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2019 12:19AM by Shop-et-al.

A friend of mine posted this. He is democrat by party. I am libertarian by party. I am not trying to upset anyone but I find this to be a very logical way to do things. Of course, this would mean that there would be no reason to vote for a wall on one side, nor for the President to need approval for the wall on the other...

1. The wall is a matter of National Security
2. National Security is the responsibility of DoD
3. DoD has an approved 2019 budget of $716 Billion (Originally approved at $674B in September 2018)
4. DoD has the right to repurpose it’s budget as needed on matters of national security (with a bit of paperwork)
5. The DoD agencies struggle every year to spend their full budget so they don’t lose it next year.
6. Repurposing 0.7% ( $5B ) of the DoD budget can pay for the wall with or without congressional approval

Orlando - lightly shopping NC

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2019 12:31AM by oteixeira.

Point one is false and therefore your entire argument collapses.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

@MFJohnston wrote:

Point one is false and therefore your entire argument collapses.

Well, again, a friend posted this, and false and true are very black and white, while the discussion on the wall is a matter of opinions. I think false is the wrong word, I think your opinion is that it is not a matter of National Security. Also, there are 77 other countries in the world that have these exact walls for that exact reason...so again, it's an opinion, not a fact. And I am not saying I am right either, I am just saying there is room for discussion.

Orlando - lightly shopping NC

I cannot imagine having to buy things for an infant like diapers and formula.

Well, that's a matter of opinion, but let's all agree on this- a January shutdown should not even be possible if Congress did its job and had a budget in place by October 1. They didn't do their job, and here we are.

@MFJohnston wrote:

Point one is false and therefore your entire argument collapses.

I started typing a full response, but in the interest of avoiding delving into too many politics here, I deleted it. Let's just say.. I vehemently disagree.

@oteixeira wrote:

@MFJohnston wrote:

Point one is false and therefore your entire argument collapses.

Well, again, a friend posted this, and false and true are very black and white, while the discussion on the wall is a matter of opinions. I think false is the wrong word, I think your opinion is that it is not a matter of National Security. Also, there are 77 other countries in the world that have these exact walls for that exact reason...so again, it's an opinion, not a fact. And I am not saying I am right either, I am just saying there is room for discussion.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

@MFJohnston wrote:

I started typing a full response, but in the interest of avoiding delving into too many politics here, I deleted it. Let's just say.. I vehemently disagree.

No worries, that is the beauty of this great country, we can disagree on things. We are all allowed to have our opinions here without being oppressed. I for one am sure there is no better place to live.

Orlando - lightly shopping NC

As usual, I have a contrarian point-of-view.

Perhaps with Gov't shutdowns becoming more commonplace, employees should heed the standard financial planning advice of saving somewhere between 3-12 months of living expenses in a liquid account. Some call it a rainy day fund. Even without Gov't shutdowns, this is a sound personal financial strategy regardless of what sector you work in.

All these furloughed employees crying the blues about the shutdown and missing two paychecks...should take responsibility for their own financial well-being and save enough for any unexpected event in life. Many of the reports say the hardship emanates from the no warning aspect of the shutdown? Bull, the US Gov't has been operating on temporary budgets for some time now. With each continuing resolution, the Gov't was only temporarily funded for a short time. This standoff over the wall has been brewing for some time now. The only people who had no notice or inkling of a potential shutdown have not been paying attention.

I personally have a hard time sympathizing with these folks who essentially had an extra 5 week vacation, around the holidays no less, with full pay.

As always -- just my opinion....

"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl -- year after year..."

Furloughed workers, Office 365, bonuses...what are you saying? Your thoughts seem very random.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2019 08:36AM by HonnyBrown.

It is well past time to turn this thread into a recipe thread, folks.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

Roasted Garlic

Cut top 1/2 inch off of entire garlic bulb. Place on tinfoil square. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt. Wrap foil around bulb, seal shut. Put in oven when baking something at ~350° for ~45 minutes. Squeeze cloves out of bulb. Spread on toast, put in soup.....lasts in fridge for a few weeks.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Furloughed workers, Office 365, bonuses...what are you saying? Your thoghts seem very random.

The intent was to make a thread with suggestions for government employees to quickly begin shopping, if they wanted to make a little extra money. Someone posted that navigating the forum was hard, and I remember when I started how long it took to understand mystery shopping. Time that these people might not have had. I really appreciate the other people who mentioned ways we could donate too. Any tips are helpful, that is why I mentioned using office 365 online for editing narratives because it is free. I referred to bonuses only because shoppers wait for the jobs that sit on the boards to get the bonus. So, if anybody asked what companies to look for car shops or other kinds of shops they might want to try, I understand regular shoppers wait for those shops too. I was not suggesting people give away shops they usually do themselves.

I love roasted garlic. I use it in salads and salad dressing.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I will be right over with Italian bread and mozzarella cheese.

@nslinhar wrote:

Roasted Garlic

Cut top 1/2 inch off of entire garlic bulb. Place on tinfoil square. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt. Wrap foil around bulb, seal shut. Put in oven when baking something at ~350° for ~45 minutes. Squeeze cloves out of bulb. Spread on toast, put in soup.....lasts in fridge for a few weeks.

Kim

@kimmiemae wrote:

I will be right over with Italian bread and mozzarella cheese.

@nslinhar wrote:

Roasted Garlic

Cut top 1/2 inch off of entire garlic bulb. Place on tinfoil square. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt. Wrap foil around bulb, seal shut. Put in oven when baking something at ~350° for ~45 minutes. Squeeze cloves out of bulb. Spread on toast, put in soup.....lasts in fridge for a few weeks.

C'mon. I have a bottle of red that will pair well.

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